We are requesting financial support for an ASM conference on Antibiotic Inhibition of Bacterial Cell Surface Assembly and Function. The conference is to be held on May 17-20 1987 at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. The purpose of this conference is to bring together outstanding scientists from academic institutions and industry from around the world who are engaged in research in this important, interdisciplinary area of theoretical and practical interest. The topics to be presented include: structure and function of bacterial cell walls, assembly and growth of walls; beta-lactam inhibitors of wall assembly, non- beta-lactam inhibitors of wall assembly, antibiotic resistance and tolerance. In addition to the formal lectures, the conference will include poster sessions, and a round table discussion on new wall antibiotic targets. It is anticipated that a variety of experimental approaches including genetic, molecular, physical, and biochemical will be discussed and that this conference will help to integrate these approaches and to provide new insights into further research. We anticipate that this conference will attract not only researchers currently active in this area, but will also attract scientists and physicians who would like to become more aware of recent important developments.